Record weekend expected for transit as Vancouver Olympic fever deepens

Olympic fans hit the streets on Granville Street during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Photograph by: Nick Procaylo
, PNG

VANCOUVER -- TransLink expects a record number of transit passengers to pour onto its trains and buses this weekend, posing the biggest transit challenge yet during the Olympic Games.

The transit authority has already been stretched to the limit at times over the past week, using its entire fleet of buses and SkyTrain cars to carry crowds that have reached as high as 1.5 million last Sunday.

On that day, 500,000 passengers were recorded on the Expo and Millennium lines, 200,000 on Canada Line and 900,000 on the buses. Waterfront Station has seen the biggest crushes.

Doug Kelsey, president and CEO of BC Rapid Transit Co., predicts TransLink will face its biggest crunch this weekend, with the warm weather, hockey games and free concerts attracting massive crowds into the downtown core.

The rush had already started at noon on Friday, with heavy loads reported at Bridgeport Station in Richmond, prompting Canada Line to use a portable fare box to help speed things along.

Crowds were being held back at the bottom of the stairs at Bridgeport and at Waterfront to prevent overcrowding on the platforms Friday while Canada Line was running all 20 cars. Starting Saturday, West Coast Express will have one extra car on most of its trains.

"The Olympic events, the live sites, the weather is going to be phenomenal ... we think everyone will be coming out to celebrate," Kelsey said.

Anthony Perl, a professor in urban studies at Simon Fraser University, said the Olympic transportation plan has gone "better than expected" and credits much of the success to the "goodness and cooperation of the people using it."

The number of cars coming into the downtown core daily has dropped by 30 per cent since the Games began on Feb. 12. Queues for SkyTrain at peak times — especially after a venue or Olympic event lets out — have been about 35 minutes as opposed to an earlier estimate of two hours.

"The transportation is doing as well or better than planned. The long waits are relative," Perl said. "The one thing we know for sure is if these people were in cars the line-ups would be never-ending. They're still moving."

According to the City of Vancouver, there were more than 200,000 riders on the Canada Line each day this week, as well as twice the normal number of rider trips on the SeaBus (averaging 40,000 a day since the opening ceremony on Feb. 12.)

The Olympic Line — Vancouver's 2010 demonstration streetcar offering free trips between Granville Island and Olympic Station — has also reached a record ridership of 23,000 trips in one day.

"The whole key now, though, is for people to continue doing what they've been doing for the past week," said Jerry Dobrovolny of the city's engineering services. "The [transportation] plan relies on people continuing to walk and bike ... people should be doing that for their own peace of mind. Being stuck in a traffic jam surrounded by thousands of pedestrians is no fun for anybody."

Dobrovolny noted the city has lost 50 per cent of its road capacity leading into the downtown core, which has put pressure and increased congestion on main arteries such as Hastings, Pender and Powell. The danger, he said, is that people might start thinking it's not as busy downtown and decide to bring their cars into the city.

John Edwards, a transportation consultant from Colorado who is volunteering here during the Games, said that contrary to some complaints, the transportation system is working well.

Edwards said despite a rainy start to the Games, most Olympic buses have been 15 to 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Compared with the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Edwards said, Vancouver is "run much better" but he notes there has also been advancements in technology in the past 14 years.

"Overall it's been very positive," he said. "It's as smooth as it can be. Hiccups with Mother Nature have cancelled things, but I think people understand."

Kelsey noted that TransLink had to make alterations to the system as the Games progressed by deploying more buses to hotspots such as along Knight Street or the Hastings corridor, or having shuttles run between Vancouver and Lonsdale Quay because of heavy demand on the SeaBus.

TransLink was also running a special train between Waterfront and Commercial-Broadway to ease the pressure.

TransLink also installed 12 portable toilets outside Waterfront station this week and rerouted more buses to deal with the extended closure of Robson to Thurlow.

"Every day has a different set of sports events going on," Kelsey said. "The good news is we've been able to have flexibility in the bus fleet to help with super surges."

Perl noted the mix of transportation in Vancouver right now is what the city needs to be successful and sustainable in the next 10 years. He said the West Coast Express has "opened a whole new world of options out in the valley.

"We've certainly raised the bar for people not lucky enough to be right in the city," he said. "I would hope people out there say 'Look you did it for the rest of the world, why not do it for ourselves?'"

Kelsey noted the Olympics is testing the transit system and will let the public determine what it needs for the future.

"I look at this Olympic Games as a 4 by 100 metre relay," he said. "We should be careful and not claim any golds when we're were only halfway through the race.

Olympic fans hit the streets on Granville Street during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Photograph by: Nick Procaylo, PNG

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